Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos communicate essential messages; raising awareness, and driving positive social change. In this article, we’ll look at PSA videos: their meaning, purpose, and impact. We’ll also give you some top tips to help you create your own awesome PSA video.
What is a PSA Video? Tips to Make a Great One in 2024
What is a PSA Video?
PSA stands for Public Service Announcement so if you’re asking what a PSA video is, then it’s an informative, usually short, compelling communication tool. It’s designed to address social issues, quite often produced by non-profit organisations, government agencies, or advocacy groups. PSA videos tell us (the public) about health, safety, environmental, or other crucial things. The main purpose of a PSA video is to raise awareness, educate, or inspire action, often on topics that affect the well-being of individuals and communities. You might also have heard the phrase Public Information Film, which is the more common term for PSAs in the UK.
PSA Video: Meaning
At its core, a PSA video serves the greater good. Messages can be a wide range of topics, including public health, environmental conservation, social justice, community well-being and so on. PSA videos try to engage viewers emotionally, encourage behavioural change, and create a sense of personal and collective responsibility.
Why Are PSA Videos Important?
PSA videos are more crucial today than ever if you think about the amount of misinformation that floats around. PSAs are a source of information and inspiration from trusted sources. If done right, they cut through the noise and grab attention. Here are some key reasons PSA videos are essential:
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Awareness: PSA videos can raise awareness about important issues that might otherwise go unnoticed or unaddressed.
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Education: They educate the public on important topics, making sure people are well-informed.
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Behavioural Changes: PSA videos can inspire people to take action, make better choices, or actively participate in social change.
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Engagement: They can create a feeling of community.
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Advocacy: PSA videos are sometimes a catalyst for change by motivating individuals and communities to support policies or initiatives that address an issue.
Ten Top Tips to Make a Great PSA Video in 2024
1. Make Your Message Clear
Your PSA video should identify the central issue you’re addressing very clearly, along with the specific message you want to convey. Keeping your message focused and concise is key.
2. Understand Your Audience
Dig into demographics, interests, values, and preferences of your audience so that you can grab the attention of the right people.
3. Tell a Story
To engage your audience, try to tell a compelling story. You could use personal anecdotes, relatable characters, or strong visuals that make your message memorable. Effective storytelling can make a PSA video stand out and make sure it has impact.
4. Keep It Short
The nature of most PSA videos is that they’re to the point. Aim for 30 seconds to 2 minutes in duration and you’re more likely to keep viewers engaged. A lot of sites recommend keeping it under a minute, but there have been a lot of effective PSA videos that were longer than that, as you’ll see a bit later.
5. Create a Memorable Hook
A dramatic visual, thought-provoking question, or powerful quote can be a memorable hook. Think about what will make your video stick in the minds of people once it’s over.
6. Strong Visuals
We’ve touched on this in the above points but the visuals of your PSA video should be high-quality, impactful imagery with footage that supports your message. Anything you see should complement the narrative or reinforce the tone or emotions in the video.
7. Stick to a Tone
The tone of your PSA video should be appropriate to the subject it’s covering. Depending on the issue, your video might be serious, emotional, inspiring, or even funny.
8. Use Music Wisely
Music can help your emotional impact and really pack a punch, if you choose well. The right music can make or break a video – you might want to check out some library music for inspiration.
9. Call to Action
Every PSA video should include a clear call to action, where you tell the viewer what you want them to do after watching. That could be donating, sharing, volunteering, being more aware of an issue, and so on.
10. Collaborate and Share
Collaboration can help your video go further and extend the reach of the PSA. Partner with organisations, influencers, or people with a particular interest in the issue. Sharing the video through various platforms and channels can maximise its impact.
Common Questions about PSA Videos
There can sometimes be a little confusion when it comes to Public Service Announcement videos, so here are some of the commonly asked questions and some answers to them!
Are PSA Videos Only for Non-profits?
Non-profits are generally the groups who make use of PSAs the most, or the ones you’ll have noticed anyway, but there’s also government agencies, businesses, and even individuals who make PSA videos. The most recent ones that you’ll have seen for sure are the various governments and associated organisations with their Coronavirus public health messaging during the pandemic.
How Can I Make My PSA Video Go Viral?
You can’t really pre-plan that, but if you focus on creating a video that’s emotionally powerful, persuasive, shareable, and relatable to a broad audience, then… who knows! You need to make good use of social media, and think about targeted outreach to get your video out to as many people as possible. You could also look at things like current trends to take advantage of existing interest.
Can PSA Videos Really Create Change?
Definitely! When PSA videos are done well, they can raise awareness, convince people to make good choices, and drive public support for important causes. PSA videos can really be a catalyst for change.
What Makes a PSA Video Effective?
Effective PSA videos have clear messages, engage the target audience emotionally, and inspire action. They’re usually concise, look good, and are very specific, they don’t go off message. Most of all, they’re probably memorable! There are many people in the UK who very clearly remember the sometimes terrifying and eclectic mix of public information films from the 1980s.
How Can I Measure the Impact of My PSA Video?
Measuring the impact of your PSA video is essential – otherwise how will you know how effective it really was? You can track key metrics like views, shares, comments, and the engagement rate on social media platforms, but you should also consider doing surveys, or using analytics tools to gauge the video's influence on public awareness and behavioural change (if any) related to your issue.
What is a PSA Video? Continued...
What are Some Good Examples of PSA Videos?
There have been tons of great PSA videos over the years. We've picked out a range of the best, whether that's because they were incredibly successful, were annoyingly catchy and memorable, or just really impactful.
1. Dumb Ways to Die - Metro Trains Melbourne
This playful and catchy PSA video with it’s own irritatingly memorable song aimed to raise awareness about train safety. It features animated characters doing some dangerous activities, before ending with the message that ‘dumb ways to die’ includes risky behaviour around trains. The video went viral and actually bucks our tip of ‘keeping it short’ at a fairly lengthy 3 minutes, but with hundreds of millions of views, who are we to argue.
2. Back-To-School Essentials – Sandy Hook Promise
Warning, this is about school shootings, but it’s an incredibly effective PSA video in a short duration. It starts with upbeat music and kids showing their regular back to school supplies before the tone turns to one of fear, aiming to spread awareness of the realities of school shootings. It’s a hard watch, but sticks in the mind. As well as taking on board the important message, the audience is encouraged to donate to protect children from gun violence.
3. Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day - Save the Children
This light-hearted PSA video encourages people to participate in Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day. It’s short, fun, and gets the message across quickly and effectively.
4. The Incredible Crash Test Dummies
There have been a bunch of test dummy type PSA adverts for car safety, and this fairly old one for US audiences uses humour to get across a serious safety message, all in 30 seconds! It has a simple, memorable strap-line too, which is the call to action of the film, ‘buckle your safety belt’.
5. Love Has No Labels - Ad Council
Another longish one at over 3 minutes, but this PSA from 8 years ago has had 60 million views. It tackles issues of diversity, inclusion, and bias featuring a live-action x-ray type screen displaying diverse couples, families, and friends. The video’s message is that love has no labels, and we should accept and celebrate differences.
6. Michigan Alliance for Drug Endangered Children PSA 2023 – Michigan State Police
A PSA video with a gentle tone in contrast with the potentially very serious message helps you to focus and pay attention to what’s required. In this instance, Michigan State Police are calling for professionals who come into contact with families, to be part of their network that protects those who are vulnerable from exposure to addictive or dangerous drugs. It’s short, and straight to the point.
Summary: What is a PSA Video?
Remember Our Top Tips to Create Your Own PSA video in 2024:
- Define Your Message Clearly: Identify the central issue and craft a concise message.
- Understand Your Target Audience: Tailor your video to resonate with your specific audience's demographics, interests, and values.
- Keep It Short: 30 seconds to 2 minutes is ideal, but rules are (occasionally!) made to be broken.
- Include a Call to Action: Encourage viewers to take action, whether it's donating, sharing, volunteering, changing behaviour, or being more aware.
- Share and Use Analytics: Use various platforms to maximise reach and track your engagement with analytics tools so you can properly understand your audience and the impact of your video.
Remember Our Important FAQ Answers
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PSA videos are not limited to non-profits and government agencies, businesses, and individuals can also make great PSA videos.
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PSAs have the potential to create change by raising awareness and influencing behaviour.
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You can’t plan to go viral, but an effective PSA video has a clear message, engages the viewer, and inspires action.
Envato Elements
If you’re creating a PSA video then why not check out Envato Elements where you can find tons of useful video assets like templates, music and more, all for one monthly subscription. There are free resources available each month too!
Conclusion
Understanding the meaning of a PSA video, along with the tips and examples we’ve given you, will hopefully be a great base for you to start creating your own. Remember, the key is to be clear, compelling, and relevant.
About This Page
This page was written by Marie Gardiner. Marie is a writer, author, and photographer. It was edited by Gonzalo Angulo. Gonzalo is an editor, writer and illustrator.
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