It seems like all businesses these days are getting into video marketing, and even Facebook is saying that video will be the biggest thing on the platform in the not-too-distant future.
If your brand is considering video marketing or improving what you already have, now is a great time to get started.
Video: The Basics
Just a few years ago, booking video content for your brand would be incredibly expensive and require a lot of planning.
With the advent of higher-quality cameras at low prices and better computers, many businesses can create videos that are good enough for social media in-house. That gives them more options and flexibility when using and producing the content they need.
Here are six tips that will help you to get the best out of your video marketing efforts, whatever your budget.
Get A Better Microphone
The number one thing that turns people off is not having good audio. Viewers will actually sit through a fairly poorly shot and edited piece of video content, but if the audio is terrible, they are more likely to turn it off. To make your audio and video sync together, you need to use an online voice over video tool. With this tool you can add different voices in different languages
Invest in a shotgun microphone for your branded videos. These microphones do not have to be expensive, but a decent shotgun microphone, or a lavalier microphone, will make a great deal of difference to your content.
Use A Tripod
No one likes shaky footage; this is not the Blair Witch Project.
Even if you are shooting your video on a smartphone, you will want to stabilize the footage. A cheap tripod with a mobile phone attachment will do the job just fine.
If you really cannot stretch to a tripod, balance your cell phone on something sturdy as you shoot your video.
Use Lower Thirds and Call Outs
When editing your video, consider adding a bit of creative flair with lower thirds and callouts for names, job titles, and to point out information.
There is a whole internet of options to download motion graphics templates for all major video editing software; this makes it easier to get high-quality animation in your videos at a fraction of the cost.
Look into The Lens
Landscape or vertical, it does not matter, but what does matter is looking into your camera lens!
If you are using the selfie lens on a cell phone, do not be tempted to look at yourself on the screen; look directly into the camera, and everything will feel more natural.
If you do not want to speak directly to the audience, set yourself up on one of the third lines and look across the screen, well away from yourself or the lens, to produce an interview-style video.
Include Captions
Around 85% of online video on social media platforms is watched without sound, and YouTube attracts an audience from across the globe.
For both of these reasons, you need captions on your video. Set them to burnt-on for social media videos and closed captions for YouTube videos, your audience will be glad!
