- One idea
Give the audience one clear point to remember.
- Useful proof
Show a truthful example, demonstration or explanation.
- Next step
Make the action clear and appropriate to the viewer.
Then check legibility, contrast, captions, placement and brand consistency on the actual device and format.
Write the brief before opening the design tool
Before your team designs anything, agree on the audience, the decision you want to help them make and the evidence you can show. An automotive product demonstration might answer a fitment question. A hotel video might help a family understand the room layout. An event announcement should make the experience, location and timing easy to judge.
Use this brief: This is for [customer]. They need to understand [one thing]. We can demonstrate it with [real evidence]. Their next step is [action]. Your designer now has a decision to support. If the brief has four audiences and six competing offers, simplify it before paying to produce it.
Give the eye a clear order
Make the main message easy to find, then add the proof and next step. Your logo matters, but a larger logo cannot explain an unclear offer. Keep essential details readable at the size people will actually see. Test on a phone, from a distance for signage, and in the actual placement preview.
For web text, WCAG’s minimum contrast criterion generally calls for 4.5:1, or 3:1 for qualifying large text, with defined exceptions. Brand colors do not make a hard-to-read paragraph useful. Give text a stable background, avoid unnecessary animation and use labels alongside colors so someone can understand a result without distinguishing red from green.
Let the first moments tell people why to stay
Open a video with the customer’s question, a useful demonstration or the result you will explain. A long introduction can delay the reason someone started watching. Let them recognize your business naturally through the person, product or setting. Ask whether your video earns attention, identifies your business, connects with the audience and makes the next step clear.
Show what you can substantiate. A clear product comparison or an employee explaining a common mistake can carry more useful information than another montage. There is no single ideal duration for every message and placement. Give the viewer enough to understand the point, then make the next step clear.
Use accurate captions and check names, numbers and terminology. W3C also recommends planning for meaningful visual information that some viewers cannot see. Explain important visual details in the narration or an appropriate text alternative. Preview without sound as a clarity check, while still making the audio worth listening to.
Adapt the asset to where it will appear
Vertical 9:16 and horizontal 16:9 are formats, not promises of reach. Choose the version for the placement, then compose it deliberately. Cropping a landscape interview into a vertical frame can remove the product or cover a face with captions. Check the safe area for each placement so interface elements do not cover key text or visuals. Check the current platform requirements before exporting.
Keep a clean master file and create named versions for each placement. Store the approved copy, usage permissions and expiration date with the asset. That makes revisions easier when an offer ends or a product changes.
Protect the promise behind the brand
Give your team guardrails for logos, colors, claims, product names, tone and approvals. In a franchise system, local people and customer stories can make the brand more relevant while approved claims and identity stay consistent. Make it clear which changes a location can make and which need review.
Confirm permission for identifiable people, customer stories, music, stock assets and third-party marks. Do not present AI-generated people as actual customers or invented footage as work your team completed. Keep offer terms visible and support performance claims with evidence. AI can help explore concepts or produce variations; a person still needs to approve what the business is promising.