By Kevin McNulty of NetWeave Social Networking.
Worldwide, more people now consume video content on YouTube than on television. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are also increasingly emphasizing posts with video content in order to compete with YouTube. Videos keep users on platforms longer, allowing these companies to show more advertising to users and make more money, so video has become king of the content types.
The rise of TikTok, the addition of Instagram Reels, and the increasing number of live broadcasts on social and YouTube mean that you need to be looking toward upping your video game in order to get and keep your audience’s attention on social media.
Why Video?
Every video is a self-contained story. You don’t have to get anyone to read all the way to the end of a long caption, or to consume a story in small chunks of individually posted photos or graphics. Also, humans are visual creatures, and movement catches eye, so video content, especially if it auto-plays in the news feed, can be instantly engaging for your audience. Also, as mentioned before, video keeps you on-platform longer, so it is favored by services so that top weight is given to video in newsfeed algorithms, meaning your video content will be seen by more people.
What to Think About When Making Videos
Making videos for social media means taking into account several factors that make social videos different from TV spots or even YouTube videos. For example, many social media sites automatically start playing videos as soon as they appear in a user’s feed. This means you must have something visually interesting happen in the first couple of seconds to catch viewer attention, so you don’t have the luxury of opening credits or site slides. Autoplay also mutes the sound, so your video, or at least the first few seconds of it, can’t rely on sound to engage the viewer or communicate information. Ever see one of those “Tasty” recipe videos? The only sound is music, and the video stands alone with the sound turned completely off. There’s a reason for that!
Also, when recording videos, be aware of the platform that will be the final home of the video. If you’re using TikTok or Instagram, you’ll want to hold your phone vertically (portrait mode), but if the end use will be Facebook or YouTube, you’ll want a video that is horizontal (landscape mode) for best results. If the platform your uploading to has automatically generated captions, be sure to verify their accuracy because voice “wreck ignition” still isn’t perfect. Finally, be sure you post at a time of day when people will have a couple minutes to watch your video.
Enhancing Your Videos
Here are a few tips to instantly improve the quality of your videos:
- Get a directional or lapel microphone. The biggest difference between amateur and professional videos isn’t the picture, it’s the sound.
- Make sure it’s well lit. Lighting makes a HUGE difference in the quality of your image. Shoot with natural daylight whenever you can, and keep the camera between the sun and your subject (though be careful of casting shadows). If you will be shooting indoors, turn on every light you can, and never shoot towards a window streaming in daylight as it will force everything in the room to look dark. If you buy a video light, make sure it has an adjustable color range for natural lighting on subjects. Cheap LED lights will make people look “blue” on camera which appears unnatural.
- Keep it stable. Shaky footage is hard to watch. Keep yours rock steady by using a tripod whenever you can. If you must shoot handheld footage often, consider a stabilization rig like a camera gimbal. In a pinch, you can even pick up the tripod and hold the whole rig. The weight of the tripod will help you hold the camera steady.
But no matter what, remember that the best equipment in the world can’t save a bad idea! Be sure the topic of your video is interesting and engaging to your audience, and they’ll forgive some production flaws. But they’ll never forgive you for wasting their time no matter how pretty the video is.
