Creating Preview Videos for TpT Resources

Grow with Angie and April: A Podcast for Teacherpreneurs

In this episode, Angie and April are speaking with guest Chloe Tascoff about how to create and use preview videos for your TpT resources. Join in on the conversation in the mastermind group at www.growwithusmastermind.com. We’re excited to have Chloe Tascoff on the podcast to talk about all things video previews. Along with creating her own TpT resources, she specializes in creating preview videos for her clients. She’s going to share some of her tips and tricks about how to make video creation faster and easier along with the best way to use the videos. Chloe got started creating video previews when a friend asked her to try filming a product for her. She played around with it and found she really enjoyed the process. Word started spreading and people started reaching out to her for help on their videos and things grew from there. What is the purpose of a preview video? PDF previews and photographs are helpful at showcasing your resources, but video previews help bring them to life. Chloe shared that consumers are 80% more likely to purchase a product when there is a video attached to it. When teachers are able to see your resources in action it gives them a better idea of what they’re actually receiving. A lot of our video previews end up being flipping through the pages of the resource or sharing pretty much the same information that’s already in the PDF preview. These types of videos can still be helpful, but there are so many additional ways to create a video preview. Chloe recommends if you’re creating a video preview for Pinterest that you keep it to 5-16 seconds long. On social media platforms, your main goal is to stop the scroll so you can get people to click through to your resource. However, for the videos you use on TpT, you have two minutes to use. It’s helpful to create longer videos for this purpose because the people looking at your resource are already there because they are interested in it. That means you can go more in-depth with what you explain and show. What to include in a preview video? Chloe recommends starting your video with overlay text asking a question that appeals to the problem they’re having. She shared the following example: Imagine you’ve created an organizational system to help small groups or centers run smoother. Your audience might be teachers struggling with spending too much time trying to put out fires while doing small group math. You could start with a question like: “Are you struggling with other students interrupting while you’re helping small groups?” Then in your video, you will show how the resource solves that problem for them. Show them the resource in action. This will look differently depending on the type of resource it is. You could flip through blank pages, fill out some of the pages beforehand, or complete the pages on video. If you are creating a video preview for an existing product with reviews make sure to include testimonials for social proof as well. At the end of the video include a call-to-action like “Invest in our bundle today to save your sanity!” What if you have a resource that isn’t exciting? If you have test prep resources or other resources that are heavy question and answer format, Chloe recommends keeping the video preview short. You can show how to fill out the worksheet by only doing one or two pages. She also recommends showing the answer key so teachers know it’s included, but you can keep the video short. What about talking over screen recordings? Screen recordings are a great way to show how your digital resources work, however, Chloe recommends using text overlays i