It’s never been easier to create videos for your brand and products
Video content is clearly an essential part of social media branding these days, and with a new year upon us, it’s time to look at how small brands and businesses can use it without breaking the bank. Research from Renderforest suggests that videos on social media generate 1200% more shares than images and only text content. That doesn’t quite match up with our findings from campaigns we run with clients, but it’s close! The research also suggests 90% of viewers use videos to help them decide whether to buy a product or not, and it’s hard to disagree with that.
Anyone can create exciting, attention-grabbing videos and here’s a quick guide.
Make use of what you already have
If you’ve been publishing content on your social media channels for a long time, you’re in luck. Those brands that have just not made the leap to video can start to use content that they’ve already published and turn it into video format. Look at which content was the most popular for your brand in 2019, and start thinking about repurposing it for video.
You can think about your videos at different levels of your sales funnel. First, create some videos for brand awareness to grab people’s attention and to get your brand in their heads. If you have popular blog posts, think about having someone explain them in front of the camera and post them to a broad target audience. Then you can start to think about what type of video content would be good to show to those people who watched your first brand awareness video, to get them into the next part of your sales funnel. Make your videos short and informative, cutting out all of your introductions etc. Just get to the point and display titles with text over the bottom of the video so those who aren’t watching with sound will see what the video is about. If they’re interested, they’ll turn the sound on.
*Better yet, have subtitles on all of your videos!
Set things up for quality
Using your smartphone to film your videos is absolutely fine. But a few extras can turn a smartphone video from amateur to professional in an instant. Here are a few things you should consider:
- A sturdy tripod for stabilisation
- A hand-held stabiliser
- Soft, natural lighting
- Avoid harsh shadows and bright sunlight
- Make sure whatever the camera is focussing on (your face, for example) is evenly lit
- The right location – this is so important
Edit your video with an app
When you’ve finished filming your video, the final touches will make all the difference. Do your research on which video editing apps you like the most. There are lots of free ones out there, and some very reasonably priced ones too. It’s about finding something that you understand and does enough to make your videos look professional. Many apps have fantastic templates and if you find one that works for your business, it can give your brand a really professional and consistent feel.
Edit for each platform
You also need to consider which platforms you’re posting your videos to. Gone are the days when 1 piece of content could be posted to every platform. You need to format the video for each platform you’re posting to. Instagram videos can only be 1 minute long unless you’re using IGTV. TikTok is even shorter. Take the time to create a specific video for each platform, it will pay off.
