Four key ingredients of a successful game trailer: Attention - Interest - Desire - Action.

I began my career as an advertising copywriter in an ad agency. This experience has significantly shaped my approach to creating game trailers. While there's always a desire to be an Author, creating worlds and stories, it's crucial to first address promotional and commercial objectives. Within this framework, we can then explore artistic methods to achieve these goals in the best possible way. One of the techniques I frequently employ is the AIDA model.

A trailer is not art; it's a marketing tool designed to solve specific tasks.

While there are many techniques for creating trailer concepts and scripts, the AIDA approach remains effective.

AIDA is Attention - Interest - Desire - Action.

Attention

The trailer must grab attention immediately and stand out from other trailers.

Interest

The Trailer should maintain viewer interest throughout, ensuring they watch it completely without skipping.

Desire

The trailer should create a strong desire to try the game, immerse in its world and experience things unavailable in real life. 

The trailer should be not only interesting by itself but also It should present the game in an appealing and enticing way.

Action

While entertaining, a trailer's main purpose is to prompt a specific action after viewing. Even if the goal is to generate broad interest or sMTH ELSE, including a call-to-action is beneficial.

The trailer should motivate the viewer to act. 

This could be subscribing to a channel, adding the game to a wishlist, downloading and playing it and so on.

For story trailers, consider using an in-game call-to-action to create a stronger connection with the player, such as "Save the princess," "Defeat evil", "Uncover the truth" or… "Protect sweet democracy"! 

A common mistake is focusing too much on creating short films. 

TRAILERS are commercials tailored to use storytelling principles and cinematic language, not standalone movies.

The AIDA concept is useful for checking your script before production begins. If all four elements are present, your trailer has a better chance of success.