When we talk about marketing whether it’s for a big company, a small business, or personal content such as influencer marketing we immediately think of producing a video that will capture the attention of netizens as well as persuade them to buy your product or even a simple follow to your social media accounts.
Videos have become the top-tier social media marketing strategy. It garners from thousands to millions of views. Thus, it easily spreads the word and the issue or topic you are focusing on. It becomes more interesting as compared to blogs because it has different effects, content, and can even feature a famous person.
Since everyone regardless of industry uses video content, the question is: How do you make sure your content is the one people should watch? Below is a rundown of things you MUST and CAN do to improve your videos.
WHAT YOU MUST DO:
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Tell a Story
Whether your content is a text, image, or video, you must always have a narrative to share. The narrative you have created will be the anchor of your whole video. The elements you add to your content should be based primarily on your story. In this way, the things you put in your video will make much more sense.
The story you plan on telling will then identify your market or audience. Who would watch your videos? Why would they click play and finish the content? Thus, other than creating the story it is imperative to think about your goal. Why are you producing this type of content? Is your content solely to gain sales or do you want your video to also be inspirational? These are just questions that can help you have a clearer vision.
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Shorten your Videos
Once your narrative is settled, decide on the video length you aim for. For example, you have estimated that a 10-minute video is enough for your specific content, then next to consider is your audience. How long can they sit through a video with your specific content with undivided attention, that must be your goal video length.
On the other hand, you do not want to sacrifice the quality of your narrative despite considering that a shorter video would be highly finished as compared to videos ranging from 10-15 minutes. Therefore, a strategy that can assist you is by speeding up some parts of your content.
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Add subtitles
Another important aspect of a video is captioning. If most contents are about aesthetics then this element is the opposite. Putting subtitles is needed to a.) reach more viewers b.) being sensitive and considerate.
Once you upload or publish your video on the internet, anyone across the world gains access to your produced content. And to reach a lot of viewers, subtitles will allow them to understand your video even when you speak in your native language. Secondly, apart from reaching more viewers, you are also being considerate of those people who have a hard time hearing and would still want to watch your content.
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Cool Transitions
Now, for the aesthetic part of creating your content, brainstorming transitional ideas. If you use TikTok, you can see a lot of cool ways of video transitions. The simplest and most used transition is covering the camera with your hand. Others use water to blur the camera. There are also jump transitions.
This part will squeeze your creative juices by doing something no one has ever done. But, you must keep in mind if the transition you are executing is appropriate to your narrative. Filmmakers tend to use b-rolls as transition clips which also add to the mood and setting of a film. B-rolls are also footage from the same production but are not primary. It adds dramatic tension and spice up the cinematography.
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Appropriate Sounds
Other elements you must incorporate into your videos are sound effects and background music. This is used to amplify the message you are trying to convey. It can also add as a comedic effect when your purpose is to entertain the audience.
The reason why your video needs sound effects is to also add character to your narrative. A simple ambient instrumental background music can make your content look and sound polished. There are also numerous videos that produce videos that have little to no script or lines but a continuous record of sounds and bursts of music.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
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Add text
This editing tip is highly used by vloggers and commercials. Texts allow you to highlight a piece of specific information you want your audience to remember. It has been proven that 80% of people easily retain information that they visually see. With this, texts that are designed to look more than just words can leave your viewers with the information they need.
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Effects/ Filters
Another aesthetic element that videographers use is effects and filters. Fashion trends used to be the only creative industry that lists out trends and fads. However, times have changed. Ever since vloggers became relevant there have also been changes in the way our videos look. If you want your video to be black and white, sepia, an old film looking, or even polaroid style you can. Just edit it depending on your aesthetic that also fits your narrative.
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Sneak Peek
At every beginning of a video, you can allocate at least 10 seconds that will briefly show what the whole video is about. This way, your audience can know what to expect from your content. Sneak peeks are highly suggested for vloggers that create a series of videos.
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Bloopers
If sneak peeks are found at the beginning of your video, bloopers are placed after the credits of your video. At first, bloopers are inserted in comedy films; however, vloggers with different contents put bloopers to share with their viewers the struggle of producing video content.
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Voice Over
Lastly, voiceovers. Voice overs are used in theatre productions. It is the off-stage commentary or a voice from a person the audience does not see. This technique is also used by agencies that produce commercials. Not recently, vloggers do this as well. They film their video and then create a script that would make sense of the narrative they have created from their clips. Voice over also became a technique when the ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) challenge went viral.
To summarize, your video content must always go back to your goal and the story you want to tell. All the decisions you make must lean on that to be able to create more valuable and quality video content. More than this, as an editor, filmmaker, or even producer, you must be open to trying out new things especially when these benefit your audience.
