The pitch video

The project video is the heartbeat of your Startnext project. There you tell the story behind the project and give a trustworthy insight into your world.
Here you are in the brave film studio corner and with the question: "Professionally produced or homemade?" in an inspiring place.

• Professional or homemade? This is not the relevant question.
• A video is a video, is your story.
• Tell your story to potential supporters, no matter how.
• Be bold, authentic and approachable.
• Focus on the strengths of your idea and the people associated with it.
• Upload the finished video to Vimeo or Youtube and include the video link in the project interface.

In 2010, the clear answer was still landscape format (4:3 or 16:9) because most people were still watching videos on laptops or screens.

In 2023, however, things are different. 80% of users only watch projects on their smartphone and have become accustomed to watching stories on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube in portrait format. 75% of all support takes place on the smartphone.

The video format is undergoing a kind of transformation.

You can currently upload a classic pitch video on Startnext, which is displayed directly in the header of the project page. This video should be in landscape format and a maximum of 3 minutes long.

You can make a thank you video that all backers will see after successful support. You can shoot this video as a YoutTube short in portrait format - directly with your mobile phone.

You can post detailed videos in landscape format on the blog. A blog post goes out as an email to subscribers and supporters. However, the video can only be seen on the website. Users should therefore be motivated to visit the blog on Startnext to watch the video.

Your video shoot:

• Shooting on smartphone possible
• Short monothematic sequences
• you interview yourself and your team
• change locations, scenes and perspectives
• create moments that provide the viewer with insights and enjoyment
• have fun filming yourself
• don't make it too complicated

In our interview, starters explain how they approached the classic pitch video. You are part of the next generation and will create new examples for pitches in the story format.

The so-called ‘call to action’ describes your appeal to viewers, what exactly they can help you with and what you are offering them in return. The main goal of your Startnext campaign is to win users over to your cause.

The following appeals are important:

• Subscribe to my project
• Write questions or feedback about my project on the pinboard
• Share my project in your network
• Support my project financially and receive thank-you gifts

The users who see your videos will not follow all views and in many cases not even the first time. Whether your respective call is successful is expressed by the so-called conversion. You can improve conversion if you have answered the why question well from the user's perspective.

What can the conversion look like?

A fictitious example: Out of 100 people invited by you to watch one of your videos, 10 subscribe to your project, 1 person posts on your wall, 5 share your project and 2 people spontaneously support it. Of the 10 subscribers, some may later become supporters and continue to share your message. 

The key will therefore be to gain as many subscribers as possible because they can be contacted at any time via the Startnext blog. To keep users subscribed, you need a good balance of new information, entertainment, views and cliffhangers. You decide what and how often you post. Use the blog in the project interface for this.

Subscribers like how you are and what you do when you are you and feel confident in your role. It is not important that you are a performer, but that you are natural, i.e. possibly also insecure, seeking help, but above all approachable.

Videos are not stored on the Startnext servers because the costs would be too high. For this reason, pitch, explainer and thank you videos must be uploaded to your private account on YoutTube or Vimeo. You can usually do this free of charge.

The video link for each individual video is stored in the project interface.

The videos are then not only displayed within the project page, i.e. in the context of your crowdfunding campaign on Startnext, but also independently on the video portal. If users first discover your video on YouTube or Vimeo, they will lack context. It is therefore helpful if you clearly state in your video where you can be supported - on Startnext.

You can exclude your video from being listed on the respective video platform (not listed), but this could also mean that you reach fewer users. It's your decision whether you want to make the video visible outside of Startnext.

Graphic: YouTube dialogue for publication setting 6.2023

The real competitors for your project are not the projects of others, but the results of artificially generated images, texts and, in the future, videos. AIs are used to generate attention so that adverts can be sold. You need the attention on your project so that it can be financed. That's why your project will have little chance of attracting attention on ad-based, free social networks in the future. It helps you more to draw attention to yourself in the places where the distraction is the least. Startnext is one such place.

While images are good for attracting initial attention, videos are the basis for building trust, while texts can be used to explain details.

What you can do better in your video than an AI:

• Build trust in you as a person or in your team
• Convince through expertise and references
• Explaining the project and its benefits from the user's perspective
• Address climate and sustainability goals, if possible
• Call for support and sharing

• Introduce yourself and/or the team personally.
• At the end, formulate the call to action to support the project.
• The first 20 seconds count. The viewers decide in this time whether they watch your video to the end or not.
• Keep it as short as possible and shorten the video to a maximum of 3 minutes
• If you already have a teaser or commercial for your product, include it after your personal speech.
• Besides shooting a pitch video do also a thank you video.
• Use license-free music e.g. from Soundcloud or Free Music Archive.
• Cut your video and shorten long-winded shots.
• Use free editing programs like Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, DaVinciResolve or Shortcut.
• Watch videos of ongoing projects for inspiration.