You don’t need funding to build an app, but funding can mean the difference between a strong marketing push that gives your app its best chance at success, and leaving your app to flounder, lost amongst the millions of other apps currently out there on the market.
Whether you decide to crowdfund or to seek out investors and venture capital, getting funding means convincing people that your app is a strong investment. Having a professional video as part of your marketing plan and funding pitch is more than just a good idea – it’s downright essential in our digital, tech-savvy world.
How Video Helps
Having a demo video adds a high-quality AV component to your marketing toolbox. Numerous studies have shown that video enhances learning and retention.* A video for your app will allow investors to see and experience your app in the most optimal and efficient way, gaining a much faster and greater understanding of your app and what it can do than if you only talk about it.
Video is one of the most effective communication tools in today’s digital world. A video is always available, even when you’re not. It lets you create the perfect demonstration of your app and marketing pitch; if public speaking isn’t one of your strong points, a professional demo video can do a lot of the communication heavy lifting for you. No need to worry about app bugs, connection issues, or tripping over words when talking about your app – let your demo video do the talking for you!
Video is also a more efficient way to communicate, letting you say more with less. You can pack a lot of information into a single 1-2 minute demo video, far more than you can achieve with words alone.
Venture Capital
When it comes to seeking funding from venture capitalists, the pitch presentation is everything.
In today’s busy business world, the strongest, best pitches are short and compelling. You’ll be lucky if you’re even given a full half-hour meeting to pitch your app. Twenty minutes or less is far more likely, which means you need to hone and polish your pitch down to the most essential points. If you’re looking for advice on putting together a pitch deck, we can recommend Guy Kawasaki’s 10-slide pitch or Fred Wilson’s Six Slides as great places to start.
A demo video can be the foundation of your pitch, freeing you from having to explain how your app works and what it does. This leaves you more time to focus on the pitch itself.
In almost every case, a shorter pitch is better than a longer one. Even if you’re given 20-30 minutes, aim for a presentation that is no more than 15 minutes. Time left over means you’ve got the chance to check in with your potential investors and let them ask questions. This gives you an opportunity to have a more natural exchange and conversation about your app, and connect on a personal level with the people in the meeting room.
Crowdfunding
Digital technology has made it possible to bypass more traditional methods of business funding and appeal directly to potential customers. The booming crowdfunding industry has hundreds of different sites where businesses and individuals can go to raise money, and sites like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and GoFundMe fundraised an estimated $34 billion dollars worldwide in 2015.
To run a successful crowdfund campaign, you need a top-notch crowdfunding landing page. This page is the virtual equivalent of the pitch presentation. The focal point of this page is the video; since you can’t personally talk to every potential crowdfunder, your app’s demo video will be the primary way you can reach out to people and make them want to invest in your app. All of the highest-grossing business crowdfunding campaigns had a product video and if you intend to raise money via crowdfunding, you can’t afford to miss the opportunity provided by having a top-quality video for your landing page.
At AppDemoVideos.com, we create videos designed to showcase and teach users about your app. We utilize marketing and educational concepts to create a demo video that lets your app shine. We work with you throughout the process to ensure the final result is a video that meets all of your needs, and that you’ll be proud to use as part of your marketing plan. If you’d like to talk to us about your video needs, please get in touch! We’d love to work with you.
* http://elearninginfographics.com/the-impact-of-video-in-education-infographic/, http://cct.edc.org/publications/television-goes-school-impact-video-student-learning-formal-education, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378720605000170, and https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/