Anatomy of a Trailer: Video Marketing, USPs and Story Tools to Make Your Game Trailer a Success
WHY DO YOU EVEN NEED A GAME TRAILER?
Well, with 12,068 games released on Steam alone in 2023 (that’s an average of 33 per day!) It's clear that you need to do something to stand out from all that competition.
Source: Statista.com
And when it comes to reaching an audience, video remains king.
86% of consumers spend a quarter or more of their time on social media watching videos, with 84% of people saying that they’ve visited a website or product page in direct response to a video ad.
Source: Sprout Social
In an uncertain field like marketing, those are pretty encouraging numbers.
WITH SO MANY GAMES AVAILABLE, WHY SHOULD I PLAY YOURS?
This is ultimately the question that every game trailer (or indeed entire campaign) is attempting to answer. And at the core of that answer needs to be: the game’s USP.
I prefer to look at the USP from two somewhat oppositional directions, and then find the common ground:
🧠 The head: what makes this game unique within the marketplace? What features, characters, levels, mechanics, can only be found in this game?=
❤️ The heart: what is the feeling this game inspires? What do/will fans love about it? Is it nostalgia, genre satisfaction, the thrill of the new?
What is the intellectual reason, and what is the emotional reason to play this game? If we imagine a Venn diagram, within the middle ground between these two elements lies a strong articulation of the USP.
We can then turn that into a single-minded proposition, which should inspire everything from the tagline to the key art – but that’s for another day, perhaps. Right now let’s stick to trailers.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT GAMES TRAILER?
Is it the video quality? The gameplay graphics? The characters?
You can likely think of some low-fi trailers that still excited you, or games with ‘poor’ graphics that felt incredibly exciting to play. So the answer isn’t video or even gameplay quality. And some games don’t even feature characters.
The answer is: the experience the audience has watching the trailer.
And what should that experience be built upon? The USP.
We want to get across the head: what the game is, and the heart: the emotion of playing the game, all wrapped-up in a minute to a minute-and-a-half (typically), through an experience that will engage the audience and make them say at the end: that looks cool, I’d like to play that…
But don’t forget: the trailer is not the game. We’re not seeking to replicate the game – nothing can, it’s unique, right? Rather we want to convey an experience of the game that is compelling and authentic, built using story tools upon the solid creative ground of our USP.
STORY
There are lots of people far cleverer than me who have talked about the impact of story. From Bruno Bettelheim’s psychoanalytical look at fairytales, to Save the Cat. The fact is that as humans, we’re hard-wired to receive information through narrative. Story transcends rational comprehension, inspiring action on a deeper, subconscious level.
Story is also genre-agnostic. Whether the latest sports game or a platformer about escaping from malevolent burger ingredients, story is what elevates our experience of the game.
Done right, story is what makes us say at the end of the trailer: that looks cool, I’d like to play that…
BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END
Or 3 Act Structure if you prefer. It’s the basis for every story, every joke. As Michael Caine explains at the opening of The Prestige, even a magic trick is predicated on Beginning, Middle, End (or, using the film’s parlance: the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige).
The Beginning is where we grab the audience’s attention. We have to beat that dreaded cursor hover (is this trailer worth my time and attention?) All while establishing context for the audience: where am I? What kind of game is this? What’s the tone? How am I supposed to be feeling?
We hook people in with the setup, get them along for the ride. We set expectations so that we can subvert them once we come to…
The Middle, where we expand the experience. Maybe that’s revealing a new level, new characters, new gameplay mechanics. Maybe that’s a genre-change or a plot turn. Maybe that’s revealing that the previous FPS-game has now gone open world in the sequel.
We build upon our promise from the Beginning, escalating the stakes, surprising the viewer to propel them like a turbo-boost towards…
The End. The payoff of all that’s come before. The satisfying climax that ties the trailer together in a way that, hopefully, feels both surprising and inevitable at the same time. It’s a reveal of the answer to the big question, or perhaps the big enemy. It’s an invitation to step into the world of the game.
The audience needs to be emotionally charged by the ending. Having had a taste of the game they should be excited by the promise of more to come – more of this unique experience that only this game can provide.
OUTSIDE THE NARRATIVE
Yeah but my game doesn’t really have a story. Doesn’t matter. Your trailer should. And your trailer is not the game, remember?
Besides, once we start to look at any game trailer, even the memorable short form examples that spring to mind, they were built upon Beginning, Middle and End. And all those trailers you don’t remember watching? Chances are they weren’t.
Whether you’re creating an entire narrative to bring your gameplay to life, or merely providing a memorable ‘bumper’ for gameplay excerpts, using a strong Beginning, Middle and End will ensure that your message is compelling and effective.
Now that we’ve defined ‘the trick’, take a look at some of your favourite trailers from the past and see if you can identify the 3 Act Structure at play, built upon a strong USP that’s inherent within the experience the trailer conveys.
And of course, if you’re looking for professional help with your trailers, there’s always ReadyAimFire, here for all your live action, gameplay, and content campaign needs.
(And that’s what’s known as a Call to Action.)
