If you’re just starting out in the world of video and film, there’s a good chance you’ll need to learn how to write a commercial. After all, commercials are a great starting point for any indie producer – they’re short, not terribly expensive, and they look great on a resume or a reel!

These days, you can produce a commercial relatively easily. You can edit your video right off of a laptop. But before you can start creating your video, you need to have a script.

Learning how to write a commercial script is a huge first step and a key part of how to become a film producer. It might seem a bit overwhelming to start writing, so we’re going to break it down and give you a few tips.

Step 1: The most important thing you need to do is ask yourself – what is the key message of your commercial? What is your angle for selling the product? Does the product exist to fix an existing problem?

Let’s say we’re writing a commercial for an energy drink. Energy drinks exist to give people a boost to get through the day, right? So, with that in mind, the slant of your commercial could be – [ENERGY DRINK NAME] IT’LL GET YOU GOING!

Some marketers tend to stack a script with too many product benefits, which can be overwhelming for the viewer. Center your commercial around one message, and try to keep it simple.

Step 2: Study the target group for the product. Who are they? What do they like? What will connect with them?

Let’s think about who the target audience for that energy drink would be. Chances are, it’s not going to be marketed towards the elderly or young children. The target audience would likely be college students and young adults. Figure out what will appeal to that group, and keep that in mind while writing your script.

One good idea would be to come up with a relatable scenario for your target audience. Something like, “classes got you down? [ENERGY DRINK NAME] WILL GET YOU GOING!”

Step 3: Now that you have your basic idea, add a little spice to your concept. Use a bit of humor or drama to trigger emotion, or build a three-act structure story.

For the energy drink example, you could write something like this:

INT. DORM ROOM – MORNING

A student is passed out on their desk, which is covered in books. Several alarms are beeping.

NARRATOR:

(V.O)

Classes got you down?

The student finally wakes up and smacks their alarm. Sitting next to their desk is a shiny can of [ENERGY DRINK] with a note on it that says "study before test!"

The student cracks it open and an angelic chorus immediately starts playing. He chugs the drink down and immediately perks up.

NARRATOR:

(V.O.)

[ENERGY DRINK] - it'll get you going!

See, it’s that simple! Using this outline, you’ll be ready to write a commercial and become a video producer in no time! If you like you can start writing your commercial real quick in FilmQi. Check out the video below to see how easy it works.