One of the biggest questions I get is, “Do I actually need such a professional video for my campaign? Can’t I shoot it myself?”

And I get it. In a world plastered with user-generated content, where you can get a pretty good video with your iPhone, it’s understandable to question the value of hi-fi video production.

But my short answer is, unless you’re Substack, yes.

And the long answer is unless your Substack, yes, because:

1 - Your pitch video is your meeting with thousands of potential investors. Show up as a professional.

In traditional fundraising from angels and VCs, you meet each investor individually.

How do you approach that meeting? Do you think about how they’re going to perceive you and do everything you can to drive that perception in your favor?

Do you plan your talking points, choose your outfit, shower, do your hair?

Unless you’re a 20 yr old Harvard dropout showing up to investor meetings in a dirty hoody, your probably putting some thought into how investors experience you and by proxy, your company.

Your pitch video is your digital presentation to the world. It’s your asynchronous investor pitch to thousands, if not millions of investors.

By creating a high-quality video, you signal to potential investors that you are a serious and trustworthy entrepreneur. You show them that you are committed to your company's success and that you will do everything in your power to bring it to life.

This doesn’t mean the video itself needs to be serious - they can be fun, or bold, or simple, or whatever else you want it ot be - but you do need to show you care and quality is a core way to show that.

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2 - It engages them the way they’re used to on the internet.

Everyone would like to think that when your campaign launches everyone stops what they’re doing to rush over to your campaign page and invest.

Sadly, the world doesn’t work that way.

Your potential investors are probably in the middle of a meeting, or at a stop light, or going to the bathroom, or watching Netflix, or scrolling Instagram.

Your video needs to engage them from the first beat, and keep them engaged throughout.

If you’re not, those potential investors become non-investors.

A well thought out, well produced video designed for a retail investor ensures you keep them on the page, and eager to learn more.

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3 - People remember how you made them feel, not what you said

It’s true. This doesn’t mean what you’re saying isn’t important. It is, it’s absolutely critical, which is why our first job in any project is making sure we nail the story.

But video is a visual medium.

By combining words with visuals, music, sound effects, graphics, and more, we create an experience for your potential investor that lasts longer than any individual thing you say.

If your video is shot on a phone, and is nothing more than you speaking to camera with some slides from your deck dropped in, the only feeling they’ll have is boredom.

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4. It Works

A few months ago I ran a non-scientific study. I looked at the top 40 Reg CF raises of all time on Wefunder and the top 40 on StartEngine, and assessed whether they had a professional video or not.

If you take out the anomaly companies that raised $5M in the blink of an eye, like Substack, Mercury Bank, and Levels, 54 of the top raises had a professional video and only 17 raises did not have a professional video.

Aka 75% of the top raises had a professional video, and only 25% did not.

Again, this is non-scientific and there are other factors at play here, correlation vs causation, but that’s a lot of correlation.

Those are just some of the reasons it makes sense from an ROI perspective to create a professional video for your crowdfunding campaign.

But wait, there’s more!

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Maximize Your ROI by also creating non-crowdfunding videos

In their 2023 State Of Marketing report, Hubspot reported video is the #1 most popular and effective form of marketing.

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When you create a professional campaign video, you can kill multiple birds with one stone.

When you’re shooting a professional video, you’re already hiring a film crew, why not get all the juice from this squeeze? After a crowdfunding shoot, our clients often come to us to create all sorts of other assets from brand hero videos, to explainers, social ads, testimonials, and more.

When we offer these types of videos as a standalone service, we’re typically charging 2-10x more than we do for a crowdfunding video. Take advantage of that opportunity.

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Have I convinced you?

I’ve got a POV here, and hopefully you see the light.

If so, get in touch.

If not, let me know why you disagree, I’d love to have the debate.

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