How to Create the Perfect Event Highlights Video

From creating press releases, planning promotion, to chasing vendors - organizing events can be a labour intensive process.

Not only can events be very expensive to organize, but they also require a lot of resources and prior planning.

As a company you want to maximise everything you put resources into when you produce an event, especially content.

Video content in particular, you’ll want to use it strategically and get the most out of it. This means turning one marketing event video into multiple highlight videos and use them in a plethora of ways.

So from creating a buzz around your current event to promoting your future ones, video content from one event alone can pay dividends for months (and even years) at end.

What is a corporate event highlight video?

Similar to movie teasers and wedding videos, highlight video is a couple of minutes long video that shows the essential features of your corporate event succinctly. It’s not just limited to physical corporate events - it could be anything from town hall meetings and trade shows, to an online charity event.

2 Types of Highlight videos:

There are two main types of highlight videos that you can create for your event.

1) Highlight recap videos

Event recap videos are used post-event, to share an inside look on the event experience. They highlight all the impactful moments that took place in that event.

2) Highlight teaser

Highlight teasers are used to entice potential attendees into attending. With a plethora of events happening online, onsite, and even hybrid events, it can be hard to convince your audience to attend your event.

This is where an irresistible highlight teaser comes in. Ever wondered how to make a teaser video for an event?

Videos like these are an efficient way to attract your audience by capitalizing on FOMO - our 5 tips to create a viral-worthy video for your event video recording process.

Why event highlight videos

With lengthy to-do lists, creating promotional content for the event, and maintaining constant contact with vendors and stakeholders, there’s a ton that you need to do prior to the event. And even more once the event is over.

So why should you spend time creating event highlight videos?

• Videos get results

Videos are much more engaging, dynamic, and prompt a higher intent to register. They show your audience exactly what to expect from the event.

And people prefer watching videos over reading lengthy promotional landing pages. After all, 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text.

With the right tools, they can be quite easy to create

There’s a lot involved in creating a professional looking, high quality video.

But if you’re new to the videography world, or on a budget, you can create professional looking videos easily with the right online video maker and some super-helpful tips and tricks.

• Videos have a long shelf life and get a high ROI

Videos can be used immediately post-event leading up to the next edition, and in a plethora of ways.

So from using it as an internal thank-you video for your rockstar employees, to inviting new sponsors and prospecting attendees, you’re all sorted till the next event.

And according to Optinmonster, video marketers achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness, with 93% of marketers saying they’ve landed a new customer thanks to a video on social media.

Are you looking to create professional event videos? With PlayPlay's event video templates, you can effortlessly customize stunning videos for your next event, whether it's a LinkedIn promo or a TikTok highlight – all without the hassle or complexity.

Challenges companies face when making event highlight videos

So we know that videos can yield a high ROI, our audience prefers it over text, and we’ve pretty much entered a video-first world.

But even then, not all businesses have jumped on this bandwagon. Why?

• Lack of time and resources

Whether it’s creating a promotional event highlight video or going through hours of footage to create a highlight recap video, creating videos can be a time consuming process.

And not all businesses have the time or resources needed to invest in the video creation process.

• Lack of video creation skills

Creating videos, especially ones that stop your audience in their tracks and make them rewatch 10 times, requires superior video skills.

It’s not just shooting the video that’s a challenging task but also editing it, which can seem like a hard mountain to climb.

Especially for businesses that don’t have a specialized in-house video team or the budget to outsource to a skilled videographer and editor.

• Lack of inspiration and ideas

Creating inspiring videos require a certain amount of creativity.

When you’re juggling multiple hats organizing your event, it can be a little challenging to summon your inner creative self. Creativity requires abundance of time, which unfortunately you might not have at that moment. And a simple video without any creative or fun elements is not going to make a big impact on your audience.

So what do you do? Should businesses with little time and resource, lack of video creation and editing skills, and dearth of ideas and inspiration not create event highlight videos?

Absolutely not.

The solution is very simple.

Empower your teams to create videos internally using easy to use online video makers.

There are a ton of online video makers that make the entire video creation process hassle-free. With a plethora of templates, easy to use interface, and all tools necessary to create high-quality videos consistently, online video makers are a lifesaver for busy business owners and cash-strapped businesses.

10 best practices for making event highlights videos

The better your event highlights video, the more attention it’ll garner. So how can you further amp up the quality of your video?

1. Use high quality footage

An event highlight video is only a couple of minutes long. So choose the best, high quality footage when creating it. Shaky footage, shots with minimal lighting, and inaudible audio can easily destroy your event highlight video.

Capture a lot of b-roll footage to make sure you have high quality footage to add to your video.

A great way to start off your event highlights video? Time lapse footage of your event space filling up with people and highlighting the scale of the audience.

2. Feature testimonials from real people

Adding testimonials from real people lends credibility to your video.

Consumers trust user reviews and testimonials. According to a research, 90% of buyers who read positive customer success content claimed that it influenced their purchasing decisions.

Prospect attendees by showing them genuine glowing reviews of people who attended your last event  - highlight their positive experience and ask them to describe parts of the event they liked best. Even if you’re making a super short, 60 to 90 seconds long event highlight video, add snippets of a few testimonials.

Or you can always just show closeup shots of happy, engaging faces having fun and enjoying themselves at the event. Like Anoop Studio did here.

3. Feature key information

• How long was your event?
• How many people attended it?
• How many speakers did you have?
• How much money did you raise if it was a charity event?
• How many sponsors did you have?
• How many exhibitions did you hold?
• What percentage of last year’s attendees came back this year?
• What was the main attraction, the best part of the entire event?

And so on.

Feature key information in your event video highlight by highlighting numbers. Make sure to add everything that would convince prospects to attend your next event, and show your audience what a huge success your current event was.

The best way to feature this information is by adding text to your video. However, make sure the text you choose is in sync with your branding, pops on top of the video, and looks professional.

4. Use eye catching visuals and motion graphics

You have around 3 seconds to capture your viewers attention, so you need to make the most of it. A great way to capture their attention is by using eye catching visuals, animation, text and motion graphics at the right time.

Since the highlights video is super short, adding animation helps to bring notice to key elements of the events.

5. Highlight big name speakers and presenters

Time for some name-dropping.

You’ve managed to get some big name keynote speakers and industry leaders at your event. Super exciting!

But if you don’t highlight them in your events highlight video, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to attract attendees for your next event and show your audience what a huge hit your recent event was.

Because let's face it, people love big names. They love to share spaces with big names. They love the chance of networking with them. A lot of people might just attend your future event because of these big names.

So highlight them. Add footage of them speaking on stage, having group discussions with the audience, and just having fun with the team. Include interviews with them, where they talk about how awesome your event was.

If you highlight them enough in the video, you can also ask them to promote your video on their social channels. Excellent way of garnering even more interest in your event.

6. Incorporate appropriate music

Ever watch an event highlight video without some sort of music going on in the background?

I haven’t either. But, when you’re creating a highlights video, what kind of music works best? How do you decide?

The first step is to recognize what type of event you have. Is it a charity event, a corporate event, or any other event?

Next, what sort of audience are you targeting? If your audience is millennials, you can get away with an upbeat fast track. But, if you’re targeting older folks, you might want to use something a little softer, with zero profanities.

Whatever music you choose, make sure you find Creative Commons music that works with the tone you’re going for.

And, if you’re going to include voice overs, snippets of speeches by keynote speakers, or testimonials by participants, make sure you capture crisp and clear sound. You can do this by getting the mic as close to the speaker and participants as possible.

Using a lapel mic comes in handy here.

7. Write a simple script

Regardless of whether you’re using the video to promote your new event or to show how it went, keep your script as simple as possible. Keep the text as concise as possible (after all, it’s only a few minutes long video) while still arousing the curiosity of your audience.

Some best practices around how to write a good video script include:

• Focusing on benefits instead of features of the event
• Adding quotes by leaders who attended the event
• Highlighting one of the debates at the event
• Asking leading questions like, “Why should you attend this event?” and then answering them in the highlights video.

8. Use a mix of close up and wide angle shots

Using a variety of different angles is a great way to add visual interest to your highlight videos.

When you’re making a highlight video of a physical event, show a mix of both close ups and wide angle shots. Use multiple lenses if you have only one person shooting the video.

9. Include CTA so people know when to sign up

You’ve done a great job creating an awesome event highlights video. You’ve promoted it everywhere and even asked influencers to share it on their platform.

It’s garnering a ton of views.

But, there are hardly any conversions.

Why?

Because you didn't include a persuasive Call To Action.

People want to know what to do next. They need a plan of action. According to recent research, 23% of people (30% of Millennials) want a video to be accompanied by a link that allows them to directly purchase a product.

So always add a CTA at the end of your event highlights video and in the caption, too (with a link to your event’s landing page).

Some examples of CTAs include,

• Sign up NOW
• Register now
• Visit our website for more details
• Book your spot
• Learn more

10. Play around with the speed of the footage

Editing the video is as important as shooting it and there are several tricks you can employ to amp up the video in the editing phase. One of them is playing around with the speed of the video. This not only adds visual interest to the video, but using speed strategically can help highlight important areas of the event.

So for example, by showing an industry leader’s keynote speech in slow motion, you’re ensuring that the audience focuses on it, too. Similarly, whichever parts you feel need highlighting, you can show them in slow motion. And go 2x speed on the other stuff.

A great example is this event highlights video where all the exhibitions are shown in slow motion, while everything else is in fast motion.

So for example, by showing an industry leader’s keynote speech in slow motion, you’re ensuring that the audience focuses on it, too. Similarly, whichever parts you feel need highlighting, you can show them in slow motion. And go 2x speed on the other stuff.

A great example is this event highlights video where all the exhibitions are shown in slow motion, while everything else is in fast motion.

So experiment with different speeds of the footage to see what looks best.

Wrapping up

If you’re still unsure whether you should create event highlights video, remember video is the future. We’re already a part of a video-first world, and brands that are slow to catch on miss out on a plethora of opportunities.

After all, this year over 80% of all internet traffic will consist of video.

So if you don’t want to miss out, jump on this bandwagon and start creating your first event highlight video through PlayPlay, the online video creation platform.