Three steps to your first ad: a walkthrough

You do not need to know anything about film to get a good ad out of Optiq Studio. You do need to be specific about your business — which is the one thing you already know better than anyone.

Step 1 — Describe your business or product

Write it the way you would explain it to a customer standing in front of you. What you sell, who buys it, and what makes someone choose you over the shop down the road.

• Too vague: A bakery.
• Better: A family bakery in Serekunda. We bake tapalapa and sourdough fresh from 5am. Our customers are office workers buying breakfast on the way in.

The second version already tells the Director the time of day, the mood and the buyer. That is most of the job.

Step 2 — Describe the video, or pick a template

Say what kind of ad you want — energetic, warm, premium, funny — and set the length. Short is usually right: a first ad for social does more work at 10 to 15 seconds than at 60.

Step 3 — Generate

Five agents handle storyboarding, casting, sound, camera and cut. You get a finished commercial with voice and music, ready to post.

Three things that improve every ad

• Name the objection. The thing customers hesitate about is the thing your ad should answer on screen.
• Pick one message. An ad that says three things says none of them.
• Show the product doing its job, not sitting still.