Public service announcement (PSA) videos are short, educational, and made to create awareness or change attitudes / behaviour on issues in the public interest e.g. by governments or not-for-profit organisations. These PSA videos vary depending on the objective, target audience and key message, and use formats like traditional announcements through to narrative videos, songs and even animations — or a combination.

● PSA videos are, on average, around 30-60 seconds long, making them an exercise in communicating concisely and with a clear call-to-action
● Videos with a narrative element are created for emotional purposes — often in dramatic or shocking ways, to effect change
● Historically, PSA videos were mass-marketed, making them a great way to communicate public information
● Now, with the internet and social media, however, you can also reach smaller audience segments

When it comes to public service announcement video ideas, think about your objective, audience and message. What type of video will your audience be most likely to engage with, given what you need to communicate and what you need them to do? More recently, the answer has often been one of the following: an announcement, narrative video, or song.

Announcement videos are the foundation of a classic PSA campaign: typically, a series of ‘piece to camera’ and / or voiceover videos that communicate information to the masses.

The PSA narrative video is usually reserved for issues serious in nature e.g. smoking, motor safety etc. These videos use techniques like interviews, dramatised / reenacted scenes, montages and footage of true events, in ways that are designed to cut through apathy and promote real change.

If we’re talking PSA videos specific to COVID-19, there’s no question — Vietnam is the hands-down winner. Their National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health not only managed to rework a V-pop hit song into a public service announcement video (which then went viral thanks to a dance challenge on Tik Tok), but also paired it with awesome animations. Who said PSA videos had to be boring?

The goal for your PSA video will be based on both your rationale for communicating and what the content needs to achieve e.g. raising awareness, or changing a perception or behaviour in the public.

This will be dependent on your objective above i.e. why you’re creating a PSA video in the first place, and who the issue / information affects. Different audience segments have different communication styles and preferences — think talking to teenagers vs. the elderly — so keep this in mind when planning your message.

Here, it’s about what you need to communicate, and what you need people to take away — and how to unite both. PSA videos, being so short, don’t give you a lot of time to get granular, so keep it simple and stick to one key message and one action for viewers post-video.

These two elements are important as they’re how you’ll measure success. For your call to action (CTA), what do you need people to do once they’ve watched your video? Your key performance indicator (KPI) will then be a measure of this behaviour e.g. clicking a link that directs viewers to a website for more information.

If you’re in government, you’ll know this, but verifiable facts and statistics to support your message can be a powerful way to build trust and prompt action; just ensure they’re recent, accurate and relevant to your target audience.

For PSA videos, starting by writing your script can help as content is often speech-heavy. That said, the shorter your video, the more concise you need to be, so aim for 3-5 points and know which is primary and which are supplementary to delivery. You can also use your script to plan your visuals, pairing your points with cutaway shots, stock footage or custom animations to help viewers understand and retain information.

Conversely, if your PSA video is highly stylised, starting with storyboarding can help you visualise your shots to tell your story. Don’t forget to note any text overlays, and music or on-screen actions.