Taking Learnings from Film Loglines in your Marketing

A logline is used in the film industry to summarise a screenplay and to get the idea sold within a few sentences. As Marketers, there is a lot we can learn from this approach by starting with a clear summary of the content we produce.

Tell your audience what the content is about, who it is for, and the main takeaway for them in a few sentences.

Using Loglines in your blog posts

Before we start, go back and take a look at the last blog post published by your business.

In the first few paragraphs is it clear what the purpose of that piece of content is? Have you grabbed the attention of your target audience and have you given them enough value upfront?

Using the technique used by screenwriters, can help restructure your blog posts, and provide your audience with more value.

Don’t make your reader have to shift through an entire blog post only to find out there is no clear takeaway for them. Give them the value upfront, in a short concise way, and make it clear what this particular post is about.

Using the film logline approach and starting with a clear summary to grab the attention of your audience, can make an impact on your business. Within the first few sentences make it clear what you are offering, this will help you convert more readers into potential customers.

Keep your website copy clear and concise

You don’t have long to grab the attention of visitors on your website, you need to make sure your copy, right from your headline is clear, short, and links to the problems your audience is facing.

“People rarely read online — they’re far more likely to scan than read word for word. That’s one fundamental truth of online information-seeking behavior that hasn’t changed in 23 years and which has substantial implications for how we create digital content.”

Nielsen Norman Group (link)

With a potential customer making up their mind within the first few seconds after skimming through the homepage of your website, your copy needs to be readable, relevant, and make clear what you can offer.

More than likely a potential customer is landing on your website as they have a problem and need help. Is it clear from your homepage and your headline, that your business can help them?

Want more practical tips around this? I would recommend reading Donald Millers, Building a Story Brand, and going to the chapter about websites. He has also written a great blog post around this subject which is well worth reading.

Make it clear what you do and who it is for

Just like a film logline’s purpose is to get a script sold in a few sentences, you only have a short period when first interacting with your audience to get their attention.

If someone comes across your business or other marketing material as a potential customer and they do not know what you offer, and how you can help them. They are lost.

Make it clear. Have a single message, and make it relevant. Focus on a single customer type for your business and write it as if you were speaking to a single customer.

Loglines are just one lesson that can help us improve our content

There are lots we can take from the film industry and apply their approaches to our marketing to provide more value for our customers and help connect us with those we are trying to serve.

Looking outside of marketing, and into other techniques and practices from other industries and professions can help us as Marketers grow and the brands we work for.

Resources Mentioned in this Article and Further Reading

• Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller (Book)
• How to Write Powerful Headlines People Can’t Ignore By Donald Miller (Blog post)
• How To Write a Sales Page by Alex Cattoni (Video)

Film Logline Examples

Without looking it up, from the one sentence below, can you name at least one of these films? Now let’s take this ability to create content that not only grabs our attention but makes it clear what the story is about.

“A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.”

“During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.”

“A Lion cub crown prince is tricked by a treacherous uncle into thinking he caused his father’s death and flees into exile in despair, only to learn in adulthood his identity and his responsibilities.”

Source ScreenCraft